Yesterday was the day I chose gratitude. My dear friend sent me a verse from Habakkuk 3 where it talks about even though they weren't seeing the results they'd asked for in their prayers, still they rejoiced. It's not easy to do in the midst of broken circumstances. Then I came across a quote that said: "bring me the sacrifice of gratitude and watch and see how I will bless you" (Jesus Calling Devotional). So I made a decision first thing that morning, today is going to be a day of gratitude, no matter what happens and no matter what they tell me. It's thankfulness not because of what I see but God because of who You are. I let thankfulness and gratitude rise in my heart all day long, and before long, it started changing my heart. The desperation I felt was starting to leave and hope was slowly rising. Then a funny thing happened, things started to shift with Ellis. We got news that pushed us forward a little bit more. And for that, I am so thankful.
We are so very close to getting over another hump for this baby girl.

She went almost an entire day without a seizure. If she can keep this up they can start weaning her off her sedation medication. Once they do they believe they can also finally wean her from her two remaining blood pressure meds she's on. Once that happens she will have been weaned off half the medications she was taking. We would also soon be able to have a conversation about getting her off the vent that is helping her breathe.

In other good news, her right lung that had collapsed, has re inflated. We were so, so happy about this because now she won't need anything more invasive to re inflate it. Thank you Lord.

We still need prayers for no more seizures and that she can get off these meds that are keeping her on the vent.

Once she's off the vent then they will start running tests that give us a baseline of where she's at medically. These are the tests we are believing will come back and astound the doctors who have already said they expect bad results due what her body has been through with the infection. I've said it every day and will continue to say it until we see it with our own eyes-Ellis Claire will be completely healed and restored. We believe nothing less for her. Her life will be like the meaning of her name, a bright shining light declaring Jehovah is God.

Thank you for showing us such kindness. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for your stories of hopefulness. Thank you for your texts, emails and messages. Thanks for loving on the Rodriguez family. We love you.

There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
He steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
He never fails

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
And take courage again

Sarah Rodriguez Rhodes

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Ellis Update: Today was a hard morning, guys. We got to the hospital & things just felt all wrong. I don’t know how to explain it other than that. Then the anesthesiologist had issues with some secretions Ellis was having that we were told amplified her risk during the surgery while under anesthesia. Given the past things we’ve walked through, we just decided it wasn’t a risk we were at all willing to take. So we made the decision to go home, re-group & do the surgery another day. Since the surgery is elective we had our medical teams full support in this decision. We are home now & doing well. This wasn’t an easy decision to make. For months we’ve prepared mentally, emotionally, schedule-wise, financially etc for this day. But we have to be lead by peace. And if those giving her medical care also weren’t completely at peace, it just wasn’t the right time, for whatever reason. I don’t always understand the “why” but I won’t always & I’m ok with that. We appreciate your prayers & promise to keep you informed of when her surgery will be in the coming months. Also, the day wasn’t a complete loss...Ellis did get to hang with the cute hospital dog-so at least that part was a win ☺️ Looking for some kind of humor-it’s been a rough day.

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